Nets lose Cam Thomas to ankle injury but beat James Harden, Clippers

NEW YORK — With a blast from their past back in Brooklyn, the Nets lost the brightest piece of their present to a night-ending injury Wednesday against the Clippers, overshadowing a gritty win over loaded Los Angeles.

Cam Thomas, the 22-year-old scoring sensation whose offensive outbursts helped keep the injury-plagued Nets afloat, sprained his left ankle in the third quarter of Wednesday’s 100-93 victory and was quickly ruled out.

Thomas was in obvious pain after rolling the ankle on P.J. Tucker’s foot and needed help as he limped into the locker room. The third-year guard led the Nets with 28.7 points per game entering Wednesday and had scored 14 points against the Clippers before his early exit.

Without their top scorer, the Nets still found a way to rally against loaded Los Angeles, which added former Nets guard James Harden to an already-star-powered roster last week.

Lonnie Walker IV sank three third-quarter 3-pointers within less than three minutes after Thomas’ departure. He finished a season-high 21 off the bench.

Mikal Bridges overcame a quiet offensive night with an offensive rebound and dunk with 2:14 remaining to finish strong, grabbing an offensive rebound and slamming home a dagger dunk that put Brooklyn up six. Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O’Neale added late 3-pointers to further ice the game.

Wednesday marked Harden’s eighth time facing the Nets — and fourth time in Brooklyn — since the team appeased the disgruntled 10-time All-Star’s trade request in February 2022 and shipped him to Philadelphia. He represented the first domino to fall in the Nets’ short-lived, ill-fated “Big Three Era,” with Brooklyn later trading Kyrie Irving to Dallas and Kevin Durant to Phoenix.

Boos bellowed from the Barclays Center crowd as the arena announcer introduced ex-Nets star James Harden as a Clippers starter Wednesday night.

The chorus continued every time Harden touched the ball.

Chants of “Dar-yl Mor-ey” reverberated when the bearded ball-handler shot free throws, a not-so-subtle name-drop of the 76ers president of basketball operations whose relationship with Harden so deteriorated that the latter asked for a trade over the offseason, which Philadelphia finally gave into last week in sending him to Los Angeles. Other chants featured more choice language.

Harden finished with a modest 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Los Angeles, who is 0-2 with him in the lineup.

The Nets’ deep defense limited Los Angeles to 22 points apiece in the third and fourth quarters. Paul George scored 24 for the Clippers, but Kawhi Leonard managed only 17 and Russell Westbrook finished with 13.

An extended absence for Thomas would be a massive loss for the Nets. Playmaking point guard Ben Simmons sat Wednesday with left hip soreness stemming from a tweak he suffered in Monday’s game, while center Nic Claxton (left ankle sprain) and forward Cam Johnson (left calf strain) both missed their seventh consecutive game.

Thomas, whose defensive issues and reliance on isolation scoring limited his playing time in past seasons, captivated the NBA to begin this one with four games of at least 30 points, including a 45-point explosion in Monday’s loss to Milwaukee.

The Nets improved to 4-4 with Wednesday’s win, which was their first at home this season. Next up is a trip to Boston to face the Celtics on Friday.